Got my first 3D printer

[John Brown]

This is all interesting, as I've been vacillating for years..
What happens if you run out of filament during a print?

 

[mc281]

It stops oozing!

 

[kinverkid]

if you store your filament exposed to air then it will degrade over time. Some filaments are more affected than others, but most of them are.

These vacuum bags are a little fiddly to use but do help to reduce moisture infiltrating the filament while storing reels. Filament Storage Bags
The empty reels are good for storing Christmas lights, rope, cables, etc.

 

[mc281]

This is all interesting, as I've been vacillating for years..
What happens if you run out of filament during a print?

Seriously my Creality stops printing to allow new filament to be loaded.

 

[mc281]

These vacuum bags are a little fiddly to use but do help to reduce moisture infiltrating the filament while storing reels. Filament Storage Bags
The empty reels are good for storing Christmas lights, rope, cables, etc.

And Bacon!

 

[kinverkid]

And Bacon!

It just clicked. You meant the bags, not the reels.

 

[mc281]

It just clicked. You meant the bags, not the reels.

Correct ... In any case even after wrapping the bacon on the reel it needs storing in a vacuum

 

[John Brown]

If I do but one, it'll be at the bottom price range, any particular model to avoid?

 

[mc281]

If I do but one, it'll be at the bottom price range, any particular model to avoid?

If you don't mind a bit of advice..... Don't start cheap! By the time I had worked up to a Creality. Ender S1 pro I had bought 3 earlier printers and almost gave up.
I now wish, having got to where I hoped to be 18 months ago with my Ender that I had bought an even dearer one at the beginning..... It would still have cost less overall!
I almost got a result with a brand new Fookos printer but it apparently has a bad connection on the ribbon cable which although Fokoos say is a simple fix, I was so pineappled that it still remains in its box on the shelf.
Maybe start with borrowing a printer from a good mate just to make sure your brain and patience is compatible with the whole thing first though!

 

[John Brown]

If you don't mind a bit of advice..... Don't start cheap! By the time I had worked up to a Creality. Ender S1 pro I had bought 3 earlier printers and almost gave up.
I now wish, having got to where I hoped to be 18 months ago with my Ender that I had bought an even dearer one at the beginning..... It would still have cost less overall!
I almost got a result with a brand new Fookos printer but it apparently has a bad connection on the ribbon cable which although Fokoos say is a simple fix, I was so pineappled that it still remains in its box on the shelf.
Maybe start with borrowing a printer from a good mate just to make sure your brain and patience is compatible with the whole thing first though!

Probably sound advice. Maybe I'll forget the idea, as I can't justify several hundred on a whim.

 

[paulrbarnard]

There is nothing wrong with a cheap printer if you go into it with the knowledge you will need to upgrade and tweak to get good results.

My printer cost about £125 as a kit of bits probably seven or eight years ago. It was a Christmas gift from me to my Dad. He built it and used it for a couple of years then upgraded to a Qidi printer. He gave the old one to me. In the first couple of years of having it I rebuilt it, replacing bearings and redesigning some of the parts. I added a laser with a quick swap head to it as well, built a box for it and optimised the Merlin set up for it. I completed that process a couple of years ago and now simply clip in the head I want to use and either print or cut. It is very stable, fairly quick and repeatable.

 

[Britman]

Can those of you with 3D printer experience comment on the cost of printing materials? I know absolutely nothing about 3D printing technology, but I would like to learn.

An average price for a 1kg of PLA+ is about £17-£20. When you slice a item the software will give you an estimated on how much filament is going to be used. And all this is very dependent on how much fill you use (how solid the print is) and how many supports you need (supports are use to errr support the a print which has over hanging parts, like supporting a bridge arch as you build)

 

[cemannion]

Have I ever broke even with the ~£1500 CEL Robox printer I bought some 8 years ago? I really don't know - or care! It's given me lots of fun designing unobtainable replacement bits or designing parts that don't exist. For example replacing the broken handle on my garden parasol or a slip-on cover for my marking knife. Better still it also keeps this aging mind ticking over.
Have fun
Martin

I too bought one but as a kickstarter beta tester it gave great service til I tried metallic filament in a new hard head. Never worked properly again so I bought another from marketplace which was just as good. Then I saw the newly released creality k1 max and bought it on a whim.
It's stunning, about 12 times faster than the robox and 4 times the volume. Great thing

 

[The_Whizz]

Thanks for all the comments; an interesting new area for me to learn about, I doubt that I will plunge into it any time soon, but appreciate the time taken to share your experiences.

 

[bp122]

I bought my first one last month. Not new to 3d printing (professionally trained on £250k SLA at my old workplace, but have been using CR10s and Bambulab X1c at work for the last year)

I had ordered an Ender 3 v2, but my colleague suggested the Bambu P1S (around £600) so cancelled the ender and bought the Bambu. Just plug and play and immensely capable. Haven't stopped printing tools and gadgets! The quality is outstanding and the speed is just lightening.

1. Tracksaw parallel guide using 2040 extrusion

2. Various threaded knobs

3. Vacuum Flexi hose for my drill press (this is really good)

4. And the best thing I have done for workshop organisation. Caps for used tin cans.

I'm a design engineer using cad for 12 years (switched to Onshape from SOLIDWORKS at work and at home a couple of months ago), so cad part isn't hard.

So, if you have any questions on Cad, I'd be happy to help!

Enjoy your new gadget

 

[paulrbarnard]

I bought my first one last month. Not new to 3d printing (professionally trained on £250k SLA at my old workplace, but have been using CR10s and Bambulab X1c at work for the last year)

I had ordered an Ender 3 v2, but my colleague suggested the Bambu P1S (around £600) so cancelled the ender and bought the Bambu. Just plug and play and immensely capable. Haven't stopped printing tools and gadgets! The quality is outstanding and the speed is just lightening.

1. Tracksaw parallel guide using 2040 extrusion
View attachment 165909
View attachment 165910

2. Various threaded knobs
View attachment 165911View attachment 165913

3. Vacuum Flexi hose for my drill press (this is really good)
View attachment 165912

4. And the best thing I have done for workshop organisation. Caps for used tin cans.
View attachment 165914

View attachment 165915
View attachment 165916



I'm a design engineer using cad for 12 years (switched to Onshape from SOLIDWORKS at work and at home a couple of months ago), so cad part isn't hard.

So, if you have any questions on Cad, I'd be happy to help!

Enjoy your new gadget

Some great prints there!

Tin lids are really useful. I did a couple to fit cat food tins. I’d forgotten I did then but checked and they still get used.

 

[Rex deWolf]

I'm a newbie here but I've been 3d printing for a while. One of my early things was a cover plate for my Festool Plunge saw. It clips next to the blade centre slot in the housing and improves the suction by preventing air from squeezing past the blade. This forces the suction to be fully concentrated around the blade circumference.

I know nothing about 3d printing. How do you go about designing such a part. Do you have ave to have design knowledge first

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

Not sure about design knowledge. You'll gain a lot as you experiment with different designs and ways of doing things. It does take a particular mind set though (her indoors would probably say 'weird'. Hmmm! ). For example if you want to design a round cone it's easier to draw up a triangular (as a section of the cone) and rotate it around the cones axis. Do the same for a ring.
Every day's a learning day.
Have fun
Martin

 

[fezman]

I know nothing about 3d printing. How do you go about designing such a part. Do you have ave to have design knowledge first

I used sketchup for woodworking and am competent enough in that. But for 3d printing, i got into using the free version of fusion 360. There are lots of tutorials on youtube Rex, have a look over there and it should give you a good idea. I would class my self very much in the noob / novice category when it comes to fusion

 

[Britman]

I know nothing about 3d printing. How do you go about designing such a part. Do you have ave to have design knowledge first

There are probably millions of free designs out there where no design experience is needed.
Having some experience with design software and being fairly computer literate is a minimum if you want to learn to design.

Thinkercad is one of the easier CAD software to learn.

And like other have said, YouTube is your friend when it comes to learning.